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New Knoxville's Kinley Rutschilling goes up for a spike against Ridgemont at Ranger Gymnasium.
NEW KNOXVILLE - Whatever nerves New Knoxville had in the opening set of its Division VII sectional volleyball match, they dissipated quickly.
The Rangers advanced to the Shawnee district semifinals with a 25-10, 25-5, 25-6 win over Ridgemont at the Barn on Thursday night, improving to 13-10 on the season.
New Knoxville will play at Lappin Gymnasium on Monday at 6 p.m. against Hardin Northern, which defeated Ada in five sets in the nightcap at the Barn.
"I told the girls we've got to come out here really focused," said Rangers coach Madison Hoehne. "First set you could tell we had a lot of nerves, but they really cleaned it up and took care of business."
New Knoxville's Addi Albers (11) and Brynn Egbert (10) go up for a block in a Division VII tournament volleyball match on Thursday at Ranger Gymnasium in New Knoxville. The Rangers swept the Golden Gophers to advance.
Avery Albers served up three quick points to start the match. Later with the Rangers up 8-6, Brynn Egbert rattle off six straight points, with a couple of aces and kills from Avery Albers and Kinley Rutschilling to raise the margin to 14-7. Avery Homan then put the set out of reach with eight straight points. The lone Golden Gopher offensive point came on an ace from Bray Caldwell, but the Rangers closed out the set on an Avery Albers kill.
The Rangers picked up steam in the second set. Leia Gottschalk served up six points in a row, with three points coming on aces. Paige Webb added four points in a row and then Homan closed out the set with three aces as part of an eight-point run to hit the 25-point mark.
New Knoxville closed out the match with more serving domination. This time it was Egbert with the long run, rattling off seven straight points with an ace and kills from Avery Albers and Lily Bauer. Rutschilling later had two aces as part of a four-point run to get the Rangers to 23-5. Ridgemont added one more point before an Avery Albers kill followed by a service point closed it out.
"It's the last time playing in the Barn (for this season) and we told them to play for that and to play for each other and have fun," said Hoehne. "You never know how long our trail lasts. You just keep on playing and keep building on those memories."
Avery Albers had 10 kills and four digs. Egbert added seven kills. Addi Albers had 18 assists and three blocks.
